{Trash to Treasure} Cheerio!

I complained on Facebook several months ago that I couldn't find a chest of drawers that would be a perfect fit for a "catch all" I wanted to create for our entry way. I had scoured thrift stores, garage sales and Craigslist...with no luck. Minutes after my status was updated, a friend of mine came to the rescue! They were just about to trash this chest so we ran over, picked it up...and I started planning!

After a couple coats of paint, some sanding, a little glaze and some vinyl letters from the Cricut... BAM step one complete!

Next step, making it an organization tool! Stay tuned!

Anniversary Date Night

What a fabulous night we had! Chris and I celebrated our two-year anniversary with a fun lunch at MJ's Cafe (review here), happy hour at Kona Grill and then topped it off with a movie night. Yep, we are kinda lame...but whatever, we had a blast!

We had not been to the movies since the last Harry Potter (cue the gasps!) so this was a huge feat for us. I'm a bit of a comic book nerd, so my movie choice was The Avengers ...and a good one it was! We loved it! My favorite scene was the schwarma scene after the credits...hilarious!

I haven't been to a happy hour in quite some time so we really enjoyed it. Hats off to Kona Grill on establishing a pretty fantastic happy hour scene. The limited menu was actually impressive with more than one vegetarian option...kudos! I sipped on a margarita and we chowed down on the margherita flatbread...outstanding. It was garlic, parmesan, tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and a balsamic reduction...tasty, tasty, tasty.

The weather was pretty perfect so we enjoyed the patio and then walked over to the theatre. That's one of the reasons I love Perkins Rowe so much...you can park once and leisurely walk around to enjoy food, shopping and a movie. Ok, commerical over!

Anyway, it was a fabulous night celebrating two really memorable years...can't wait to see what year three has in store!

Oh and sorry the pictures are so horrible! I was just so excited to be out in public...

MJ's Cafe

Today is our anniversary...cue the "aws"! So, Chris and I have "big" plans for today...starting with a little lunch. He wouldn't tell me where we were headed as we drove through Mid City, but when we pulled up to MJ's Cafe...I was pleasantly surprised!

MJ's Cafe is a mainly vegetarian lunch spot featuring local and seasonal ingredients. Yep, right up our alley! We walked in and took two seats at the bar...a fabulous choice. We had a front row view of our meal being made and we were able to chat with the owner a bit. Maureen Joyce is energetic and obviously passionate about what she is doing. I enjoyed watching her delicately create each meal with a smile on her face....it was quite refreshing!

The daily lunch special includes a small soup or salad with one of their sandwiches. I decided to start with the Summer Squash and Salsa Verde soup, while Chris went with the Pinto Bean and Guacamole...both were fantastic! For our sandwiches, Chris decided on The Southwestern, which featured pepper jack cheese, guacamole, tomatoes and romaine lettuce. I went with The French, which was grilled and featured goat cheese, arugula, apples and a pepper jelly. Both were delicious...but I won this round! The French sandwich was seriously tasty and very filling.

The decor is quite simple with a little nod to vintage. The cafe actually shares space with a vintage furniture store, so that was uniquely quirky...I loved it! There is local art on the walls and the tables and chairs aren't too matchy-matchy. Honestly, I felt like I had pulled up a bar stool in a dear friend's kitchen...especially when Maureen started chatting with us as she chopped apples. The casual and comfortable vibe of the cafe made me feel right at home.

To put it plainly...the food was delicious, the service was outstanding and the general atmosphere was just trendy enough to be noticed but not too hipster to scare off the close-minded. Normally, when we go out to eat, ordering can be such a challenge. The meticulous studying of the menu followed by the endless questions for the server...it's exhausting. But today we knew that everything on the menu was fair game...and that was such a welcomed shift. With that being said, I'm confident that even our most carnivorous friend would enjoy lunch here.

In terms of price, $10 for lunch is not bad. Will we eat here weekly? Probably not.. However, we are definetely going back for more!

Fabulously served local and seasonal food...two big thumbs up from me!